Chapter 264
It is inevitable that things like this will come sooner or later...
As a former native of Earth, and a seasoned veteran who also had once been involved within the game and otaku communities, Evé knew the enthusiastic propensity of her fellow natives towards creating such fan works especially in regards to popular games.
However, never in her life did she expect to become the protagonist this time around.
Well, especially... the heroine.
"Did I perhaps, treat them too well?"
Evé took a deep breath and disconnected from Earth's internet.
"Perhaps, I've set the probability of winning a prize in the lottery too high."
With a huff, she specifically tracked down all the players who had discussed about her doujinshi and marked each and every one of them.
Then, she decisively readjusted their probabilities of winning the lotteries, and set them up to an almost impossible chances...
The Chosen City, Headquarters of the Natural Hearts Guild.
Having settled all his tasks for the day and used up all his lottery tickets, Li Mu was about to log out to rest back in the real world. However, his plans were disrupted when, suddenly, Demacia hurriedly approached him.
He immediately noticed that his red-haired friend's face was etched with excitement.
"Hey Bro! Bro! Did you see it? Did you see the video link posted on the chat group!?"
Li Mu stopped his actions and replied, "What Video? Oh, was it the one where the goddess fought against the Gods of the Orcs?"
"Yes! That secret recording! Bro, I guarantee you with me as the server's luckiest player, the details revealed in this video will definitely lead to a hidden questline! What's more, it looks like no one has triggered it yet." Demacia excitedly explained.
Li Mu nodded slightly after listening.
"I think so too. In fact, within the next few days, I plan to ask Alice and some other NPCs just to see if I can find out more about the goddess's lost artifacts."
"Oh as expected of you, Bro!"
Demacia gave him a big thumbs up.
But soon, his friend's expression became a bit vulgar.
"Hehehe, I didn't expect... the goddess to like using vines so much! Bro, that video gave me more material to work with for my next works!"
"...Material for what?"
Li Mu raised an eyebrow.
"Why, material for doujinshis of course!"
Demacia chuckled.
Li Mu looked puzzled.
"Doujinshis?"
He then paused and glanced at Demacia with a somewhat confused demeanor.
"I know you're a part of an anime circle, and you can draw pretty well too. But what does this have to do with doujinshis? Wait—Are you drawing...doujinshis of ElvKing?"
"Heh~ Bro, you might not know this but drawing doujinshi can actually earn you some extra income!"
Demacia said proudly.
"In fact, I drew a full-color five-page series featuring the Goddess and Demigod Volker. It took me quite a while to finish it, but I got rave reviews on that doujinshi! Plus, I also got quite a few tips online as well! Hehe, seeing that video inspired me to make a sequel since I got new material this time!"
Demacia stated as his voice grew more and more excited.
"You might not know it, but ElvKing had become so popular on certain 'sites' and with the Goddess being the most popular NPC in the game, naturally works depicting her have also exploded in numbers!"
"Actually, most new works uploaded on that site feature the Goddess Evé nowadays! But, of course, none are as good as mine! Hahaha! I've watched and read so many doujinshis by this point that I end up quite an expert in this field, if I say so myself! Hahaha!"
Demacia proudly boasted with hands placed on his hips.
Li Mu: "..."
"You... are really talented, I guess?"
After a moment, Li Mu could only squeeze out this sentence in response to his friend's revelations. However, soon after, he sneaked over to Demacia, coughed twice, and awkwardly whispered,
"Um... cough, what's your penname on that site? Do you have a link? Can you share it with me, uhh, for research purposes of course..."
Men...
They're all the same.
"Of course no problem bro, I gotcha, hehehe."
Demacia slyly chuckled and fiddled with his interface for a few seconds before he sent him a link.
After sending the link to Li Mu, Demacia waved his hand.
"Bro, take your time, and remember to give me a thumbs up when you're done! I'm heading to the central square to use my lottery tickets in the meantime!"
Li Mu, who was about to click on the link, was slightly stunned.
"The lottery? You still haven't done that yet? The battle ended almost two days ago, right?"
"Yeah, well, don't I have some other tasks to do? I've been pretty busy these past two days after all."
"Speaking of which, I was included in the recent task rankings leaderboard and earned a few more lottery tickets. Now, I have ten, and I'm planning to draw them all at once."
Demacia explained.
"Ten tickets at once! Don't you think I've got a real shot at snagging a legendary item this time?"
The red-haired said with great confidence.
"Well, it kinda depends on whether you're lucky today or not. If your luck's good, you'll hit the jackpot. If not, then tough luck. Worst-case scenario, you'll get junk noob equipment on each of your ten tickets."
Li Mu shook his head.
Junk noob equipment...
For players, this was the most disappointing reward in the lottery prize pool.
In fact, players coined the term "junk noob equipment" themselves.
More precisely, it was the starter equipment given by the goddess to players at the start of their playthrough—things like wooden swords, wooden armor, or hemp robes and ironwood daggers.
As starter items with no additional special properties, these equipment are simple and ordinary, except for some specific effectiveness against the undead.
Eventually, the veteran players jokingly referred to them as junk noob gear...
The only purpose for players who won such an equipment was to offer it back to the goddess in exchange for some measly contribution points—50 CP per item to be exact which was a pitiful amount.
So, no one wanted to draw such things from their hard-earned lottery tickets.
Of course, the probability of drawing these junk items was also relatively very low.
Usually, most would simply won things such as purple epic-class equipment, meditation techniques, resurrection coins, contribution points, and the like...
After hearing Li Mu's reminder, Demacia smacked his chest in a confident manner.
"Don't worry, Bro! I've always been lucky!"
"Well if you're that confident then I'll wish you all the best...hopefully you'll get a legendary golden item unlike me."
Li Mu sighed, feeling a bit regretful.
"Heh, I have a good feeling that I'll get results in my tickets! Don't worry Bro, I'll gift you one if I happen to get two sets of the same item!"
Demacia cheerfully said before waving his hand.
"Well, let's cut our talk here for today! I'm going now!"
With that, Demacia happily ran off.
Demacia quickly ran towards the central square and faced the towering World Tree in the distance after arriving. He then paused for a moment to catch his breath before closing his eyes to began praying.
A couple of seconds passed and the interface for the exchange store began forming within his mind.
Demacia then eagerly moved to the lottery section, whilst looking at the shining golden prizes indicated the lottery prize pool.
His eyes lit up with anticipation as he said,
"Legendary Golden prizes! Here I come!"
With his heart pounding, Demacia spent one ticket to start the lottery draw.
The lottery prize pool then faintly lit up in front of him as it emitted a white light.
Seeing that white light, Demacia's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared...
White light indicates...the most rubbish reward.
And sure enough, after the light dissipated, Demacia found a pair of wooden shoes in his hand.
"Darn it! isn't this the starter footgear? I actually drew a junk equipment!"
Demacia looked somewhat frustrated.
However, he quickly adjusted his mood:
"There's no need to hurry! It's just the start, I'll definitely get lucky in my next draws!"
He smacked his cheek and whispered to himself, "Goddess, bless my ticket so that I draw a legendary prize."
Then, he used up another lottery ticket.
Another white light floated by in front of him, and Demacia got piece of clothing after the light dissipated.
It was a hemp robe, bright green one to be exact.
Demacia: "..."
"Why is it another junk gear? Moreover its a mage gear that I cannot use?! Curse it!"
He showed a puzzled look after tucking away his second reward.
"No, no... the probability of getting two consecutive junk items is quite low. Stay positive! I'm definitely lucky! Now that I've used up all my bad luck, the next rewards will surely be good instead!"
Demacia encouraged himself and spent another ticket for the third time.
Then afterwards...
He got a wooden starter staff in his hand.
Demacia: "..."
"This lottery prize pool is so toxic!"
His expression turned grim as a ferocious glint began to emit within his eyes.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he spent yet another lottery ticket after a minute.
This time...
He won a wooden starter dagger.
Demacia: "..."
"I...what in the gosh darn hell is this!?"
He couldn't help but let out a swear.
"What kind of cursed rewards is this?!"
"Could it be...that my odds are not good right now?"
Looking at the remaining six tickets he had left, Demacia hesitated to continue.
He thought for a moment and rubbed his hands as he began praying towards various deities including Guanyin Bodhisattva, The Jade Emperor, Buddha—and even the goddess Evé herself, then decided to pursue on and used up all his remaining tickets.
In front of him, the prize pool reappeared yet again as it started emitting light once again.
Alas, seconds later, a vast expanse of white light flashed before Demacia's eyes...
A moment later, Demacia's eyes were utterly dumbfounded as he looked at the large array of starter equipment and basic meditation methods that appeared in front of him.
After a few seconds of silence, his body wobbled and plummeted as if power entirely left his body as he crashed down towards the pile of junk equipment and mournfully shouted—
"—My ten lottery tickets!!"
"Why am I so unlucky!?"
— 264 —
[ WHY AM I SO UNLUCKY? ]
— —